Skills for Direct Practice in Social Work

What a great book! I learned so much about the skills and techniques related to counseling and working with clients. This book is great for beginners, great for the experienced. I shall be reading this one again, and again and again and again...Thanks!

I used a forerunner of this book when I was in graduate school twenty years ago. I pull out the current edition when I need to review basic skills for myself or for supervisees. Middleman and Wood do a thorough job of defining sixty-three basic skills for direct paractice in social work. These skills are the foundation of any professional counseling work, and their absence from the curriculum of many schools is too well reflected in the professions.While social workers and counselors often pick up these skills along the way, the concise, straightforward listing and explication by Middleman and Wood is a better way to go.I think any counselor or social worker would benefit from a review of these basics, and any trainee or intern who has not encountered this book would benefit from it.